book reviews and more

Mirror Chronicles

A glorious epic fantasy in the grand tradition of CS Lewis and Philip Pullman, and a major publishing event, The Mirror Chronicles will take you into another world, and on the adventure of your lifetime…
Half of your soul is missing.
The lost part is in the mirror.
And unless Sylas Tate can save you, you will never be whole again.

Sylas Tate leads a lonely existence since his mother died. But then the tolling of a giant bell draws him into another world known as the Other, where he discovers not only that he has an inborn talent for the nature-influenced magic of the Fourth Way, but also that his mother might just have come from this strange parallel place.

Meanwhile, evil forces are stirring, and an astounding revelation awaits Sylas as to the true nature of the Other. As violence looms and the stakes get ever higher, Sylas must seek out the other half of his soul – otherwise the entire universe may fall…
This book had a lot to live up to; it has been compared to Phillip Pullmans brilliant series Dark Materials, that I still crave more of, and classics such as Narnia. When that is done, it gives expectations that are often broken and not fulfilled. This time it’s true, this is a really good read and a series I am going to enjoy and hope the wait is not too long for the next one in the series.
The Mirror Chronicles introduces us to Sylas Tate, who is living with his uncle in Gabblety Row, the description of which leaves me wanting to explore this place much more, and especially the Shop of Things, that he enters and in which he discovers some amazing things.
I don’t want to spoil this read for new readers, so that is all I will say about this, but over the course of the next few hours everything will change for Sylas and he will find himself drawn by the bell between worlds t the other world, different but similar, and an adventure that will see Sylas begin to learn more about himself, his past and his mother that he thought was dead.
Well written, descriptive, the author has beautifully built these worlds and the characters in such a way as to illustrate to us the reader, where we are going and who with. The book sweeps us along with plenty of action and interesting creatures and beings that make up the worlds with vivid description.
Magic, good versus evil, and friendships that hold the story together and make this such a good read.
Sylas learns he has the ability to read runes and to do magic, that might be my only little quibble, it was all too easy, and it would have been nice to see this ability slowly brought to light and developed, rather then suddenly he has them.
This is an amazing read, and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys fantasy tales.